Boy Alone in Car Dies as It Rolls Off, Hits Tree
A 10-year-old boy sitting unattended in his father’s car was fatally injured when the car rolled down a hill and hit a tree in Thousand Oaks, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said.
Sandi Westerberg said Carlos Cervantes of Saticoy was visiting Thousand Oaks with his father, Gaspar, when he climbed into the car at 11:30 a.m. The father, who was working as a gardener at a house on Sapra Street, had sent his son to the car on an errand, Westerberg said.
The car began rolling down Sapra Street after the boy climbed behind the steering wheel. The car hit a tree about a half-mile down the road.
Westerberg said the child was pronounced dead on the scene after paramedics used a jaws of life device to remove his body.
The father found the wrecked car when he went looking for his son at noon, Westerberg said.
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